The present invention relates generally to film and video production lighting, and more particularly to a lantern lock for locking a hanging-style lamp into a fixed but controllable position.
Lamps are standard equipment in the film and video production industry. Different lighting is used for different purposes. Some productions require the use of diffused lighting. One way of achieving this effect is through the use of a lantern having an accordion-style shade (sometimes referred to as a “Chinese lantern”). As known by those in the lighting and film industries, an accordion-style shade lantern includes a shade having a material such as rice paper or cloth collapsibly attached to a plurality of ribs, which when fit over a lamp spreader, spread out to form an expanded lantern. The accordion-style lantern may take on various shapes, such as spherical or global, box-shaped, etc. The shape and configuration of the lantern shade ribs, will vary from design to design. For example, in a spherical accordion-style lantern shade, the ribs will typically be concentric wire rings that are connected together via material such as rice paper, ribbon, cloth, etc. The flexibility of the material allows the lantern shade to collapse into a fully collapsed position, (e.g., planar) and to expand to a fully expanded position (e.g., a sphere for a spherical accordion-style lantern shade, or a 3-dimensional box shape for a box-shaped accordion-style lantern shade). When used, the shade is mounted on a spreader frame which expands and retains the shade in its fully expanded position. A light bulb socket assembly with a power cord is attachable to the shade. Light emitted by the bulb is diffused by the shade and ideal lighting for certain types of filming.
One problem with the current design of such lanterns is the hanging assembly. The power cord that attaches to the socket assembly is designed to operate not only to power the lantern bulb, but also to attach to a ceiling hook to hang down from the ceiling. This design is problematic for the film and video industries for several reasons. First, it is oftentimes desirable to position the lantern in positions other than hanging from a fixed point of a ceiling. However, no means exist for positioning the lantern from below, from the side, or at any other angle. In addition, without additional stabilizing equipment, the lamp is susceptible to undesirable swinging due to its hanging configuration (for example, due to natural or artificial wind, or from people or objects unintentionally bumping into the lamp). Accordingly, a need exists for a technique for a locking a hanging-style lamp into a fixed but controllable position. It would be desirable if such technique included a means for interfacing the lock to standard lighting stands and equipment that are already and readily available.